Category Archives: Veterinary Medicine R and D

Researchers at Northern Arizona University’s Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, or MGGen, are putting out a call for poop.

The request is part of a community study on two nasty infection-causing bacteria in order to identify how the bugs are being carried around Flagstaff, AZ and how they are making their way into the hospital.

The researchers say the pathogens could be present on any number of things, from dogs to ground meat to humans themselves.

It is hoped that confirming those reservoirs and tracking how the bacteria are transmitted will lead to new recommendations for how people and hospitals can better prevent the infections, the researchers said.

DNA MAPPING

The two bacteria, Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, and Staphylococcus aureus, or Staph, are important to study because they are notorious for causing hospital-acquired infections that are often difficult to treat.

Staph can cause skin and respiratory infections while symptoms of C. diff infections include diarrhea and fever.

For the research project, MGGen scientists are comparing Staph and C. diff bacteria collected from sick patients at Flagstaff Medical Center to those bacteria carried by healthy people.

Samples of the latter come from volunteers willing to provide a swab from inside their nose and a swab of their fecal material from used toilet tissue. The researchers have received 65 healthy community member samples and their goal is to get 500 by next April.

MGGen’s specialty is whole genome sequencing, which allows scientists to compare even the tiniest genetic variations between the samples. With that, they can tell how closely the samples are related, indicating potential transmission paths.

The study has found: that the bacteria strains in ill patients don’t match those found in other hospital cases, indicating the organisms aren’t lingering in the hospital and being transmitted from patient to patient but are being acquired by people before they get into the hospital, said Heidie Hornstra O’Neill, research project coordinator at MGGen.

both bacteria species can live on and in healthy people without causing any problems, one possibility is that the pathogen hangs out in people’s bodies without causing any symptoms and then proliferates when the immune systems is weakened.

It could also be that only certain strains of the bacteria cause disease while others do not. About a third of people carry Staph bacteria, for example, but only a small percentage of people get a Staph infection, which could mean only some strains are dangerous, said Paul Keim, lab director at MGGen.

The researchers are collecting demographic information as well to see if a person’s gender, ethnicity or access to healthcare plays a role in whether they carry the bacteria.

SIDEWALK SCANNING

DOG POO SAMPLES: Another potential source of C. diff bacteria, especially in a place like Flagstaff, is dogs, said Nate Stone, a research specialist at MGGen. Stone searched the sidewalks of Flagstaff for four months in the fall of 2014, collecting samples of dog poop to test them for C. diff. He found the bacteria were present in 17 percent of the 200 samples and half of the strains found are common in human C. diff infections.

“We don’t know if dogs are giving humans C. diff or humans are giving dogs C. diff, but we do know dogs are carrying C. diff strains that can cause infections in humans, so they are probably one part of the story,” Stone said.

Next up, he’ll use genetic analysis to see if any bacteria from the dog poop samples match human samples, suggesting direct transmission.

Another possible C. diff reservoir is meat, and that’s also on Stone’s future researchagenda.

The end goal of providing more data on these infection-causing bacteria is to help everyone from ordinary citizens to medical organizations figure out better ways to prevent them, Stone and Keim said.

“The reservoir stuff is fascinating because we think we can affect the way people live,” Keim said.

Pet owners should be more aware of the risk of disease spread by their animal companions, experts have warned.

Infections from pets are a real threat to vulnerable groups such as newborn babies, children with leukemia, cancer patients, and anyone with a weak immune system, it is claimed.

A new review of “zoonotic” animal-to-human infection suggests that many people including doctors are not taking the risk sufficiently seriously.

Dr Jason Stull, one of the authors from the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at Ohio State University in the US, said: “Studies suggest physicians do not regularly ask about pet contact, nor do they discuss the risks of zoonotic diseases with patients, regardless of the patient’s immune status.”

All pets can potentially transmit diseases to people, the experts point out.

Pets can also spread parasites such as hookworm, roundworm or Toxoplasma.

Infections could be acquired from bites, scratches, saliva or contact with faeces, said the researchers writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Reptiles and amphibians were said to present a special risk because they could transmit disease indirectly via contaminated surfaces.

The authors wrote: “Reptiles and amphibians are estimated to be responsible for 11% of all sporadic Salmonella infections among patients less than 21 years of age, and direct contact with such animals is not required for zoonotic transmission.

“In one study, 31% of reptile-associated salmonellosis cases occurred in children less than five years of age and 17% occurred in children aged one year or younger; these findings highlight the heightened risk in children and the potential for reptile-associated Salmonella to be transmitted without direct contact with the animal or its enclosure.”

Despite the danger, 77% of households acquired a high-risk pet after a cancer diagnosis, said Dr Stull.

The experts suggested the following tips to reduce the chances of picking up an infection from your pet:

Metanome™ and Companion PBx Enter into Strategic Partnership

Providing Innovative Digestive Health Solutions for Companion Animals

Metanome, Inc., a Houston-based provider of comprehensive metagenomic services and data analysis has entered into a strategic partnership with Companion PBx, a developer and provider of innovative digestive health solutions for companion animals. In June of last year, both companies entered into an agreement whereby Metanome will provide metagenomic services that will enable a scientific cornerstone of product development by Companion PBx.

With an initial focus on canines, Companion PBx is now ready to introduce a sample collection kit, provided by Metanome, and a web-based metadata survey to veterinarian clinics across the nation. This survey will enable the establishment of a microbiome database comprised of health data for thousands of healthy and unhealthy dogs so that an unhealthy dog’s diet can be modified with specially developed foods and/or probiotics to enable a rapid return to a healthy status. Metanome will perform the metagenomic analyses on the samples that will enable Companion PBx to develop various digestive health solutions and make recommendations to pet owners and their veterinarians.

Dr. Joseph Petrosino, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Metanome and Director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor College of Medicine stated, “Companion PBx presented us with an exciting opportunity to leverage the expertise that we have developed on humans and expand it to domestic animals. Given the importance that owners place on the health of their pets, it makes sense to expand microbiome research to companion animals and specifically to help animals suffering from digestive problems.”

Robert Millman, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Companion PBx stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Metanome to offer our microbiome Dx Fingerprint kit for use in companion pets. Metanome’s integrated sequencing and informatics technology will allow us to collect and obtain the largest annotated microbiome dataset in existence, which we will use to inform and develop proprietary pre- and probiotic supplements to optimize a companion animal’s digestive health.”

About Metanome, Inc.Metanome provides comprehensive metagenomic services and data analysis focused on solutions that benefit health and improve environmental conditions and industrial processes worldwide. The company is a BCM Technologies,Inc. portfolio company. Building on the research conducted at the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor College of Medicine, Metanome has extensive experience with highly diverse microbiome sample types. For more information, please visit www.metanome.com.

About Companion PBxCompanion PBx is a private biotech company developing a suite of nutrition products for optimal cat and dog digestive health based on microbiome diversity and gut microbial fingerprints. The Company is developing a Dx Fingerprint kit as the first diagnostic product to pinpoint deficiencies in a pet’s GI health. The Company is further developing in combination, a suite of PBx Treats: nutrition products made of proprietary combinations of pre- and probiotic supplements, which are shown to correct deficiencies in a pet’s digestive health. Companion PBx products are designed by experts in pet digestive health and formulations are built from clinically proven ingredients.

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